Carcar City Special Chicharon

Cebu is home to a number of delicacies that have tickled the taste buds of every Cebuanos for generations. One of the most famous delicacies in the Cebu is in the City of Carcar, the chicharon or pork crackling. Yes, other places in the archipelago offer this stroke-inducing snack item, but the chicharon in Carcar is one delicacy no one could ever resist. Carcar City is bordered to the north by the town of San Fernando, to the west are the towns of Aloguinsan and Barili, to the east is the Cebu Strait, and to the south is the town of Sibonga

  Chicharon is made of pork rind that is boiled in water with spices and salt before it is cooked in hot oil. The chicharon-making industry in Carcar supposedly started in the 1900s when a couple started selling the delicacy after they discovered the delectable taste offered by pork rind boiled in oil. It is tasty yet it is not healthy. ating this snack should still be controlled. This snack, as delicious as it is, is full of saturated fat and trans fat – which are known to be harmful to one’s health. Saturated fats are coming from animals, and this fat becomes solid in room temperature, and therefore, a big chance of increase in cholesterol will happen if they are in the body. On the other hand, trans fat, are unsaturated fat that is commonly found in preservatives. This type of fat causes the increase of bad cholesterol in the body, and the decrease of good cholesterol. Therefore, both type of fat, saturated and unsaturated raises the person’s risk in acquiring cardiovascular diseases. There are even studies which suggest that saturated fat has the potential to increase the risk of a person to develop type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, chicharon and pork rinds, just like other snacks, are also full of calories which, if not controlled, can lead to obesity.

Apart from the saturated and unsaturated fat that this snack contains, it also has massive sodium, or salt content. The sodium content of chicharon is reported to be more than three times compared to those typical potato chips, corn chips and other junk foods. Although not directly bad for diabetics, sodium helps stimulate thirst, thereby urging the person to drink water or any kind of beverage. Ultimately, sodium also accelerates the water retention in the body. Therefore, too much sodium can likewise lead in increase and weight, as well as heart diseases.

People usually think any body part procured from a pig is full of unhealthy fat. Chicharon is also deep-fried, and we associate anything fried as being fattening.

The Health Benefits

1. Protein

A small pack of chicharon (0.5 oz) contains eight to nine grams of protein. That’s the same amount of protein in 100 grams of nonfat Greek yogurt and more protein in a bag of chips. Protein is essential to the body. It helps repair muscles and can stimulate the production of body chemicals like enzymes and hormones.

1. Zero Carbs

This is the main reason pork rinds are often recommended as a snack in low-carb diets, because it’s full of protein and doesn’t contain carbohydrates, unlike other on-the-go snacks. There’s even debate about whether it’s good for diabetics or not because it has little to no impact on blood sugar. While experts are arguing about that, have a bag of chicharon.

Today, Carcar is the center of the chicharon industry in the island of Cebu. One distinctive feature of the chicharon from Carcar is the meat that comes with each piece. While you can buy chicharon without the meat, the best ones are the ones with meat on them. This variety of chicharon can be eaten either on its own with vinegar or it can be eaten with rice for a regular meal. It can also be used as an ingredient to a dish, like sautéing it with vegetables.